*rōþr

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct the neuter *rōþr "oar" for Proto-West Germanic,^[1] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *rōþrą (“oar”),^[3][4] which Kroonen cites as *rōþra-, Orel as *rōþraz or *rōþran, and Bammesberger as *rō-þra-.^[4][5][6] It is an instrument noun derived from the verb *rōan "to row",^[4][5] formed with the Proto-Germanic suffix *-þ/đra/ō- that made names of instruments.^[7] Ringe counts it among the inherited instrument nouns that survived fairly well in Proto-Germanic.^[3] In Old English a vowel was always inserted in a word-final cluster of consonant and r, so that *rōþr gave early Mercian rōðr and then rōþor.^[8]

Morphology

A neuter noun,^[1] a neuter a-stem in Old High German.^[7] The Old Frisian noun is masculine,^[9] and Köbler refers it to a u-stem *rōþru-.^[10]

Evidence

The noun is attested in Old English rōþor, Old Frisian rōther and Old High German ruodar;^[1] the Old English word is recorded in the early Mercian Corpus Glossary.^[1] Old High German has it from the third quarter of the 9th century in glosses and in Otfrid and Notker.^[7] Old Saxon may have it in the compound ⟨sturrother⟩ "rudder" in a gloss of the second half of the 12th century, if the gloss is Old Saxon rather than Middle Low German, and Old Dutch has it only in the compound ⟨helmroder⟩, recorded once in 1185–1190.^[7] Wiktionary gives the Old Saxon and Old Dutch words only as reconstructions.^[2]

Competing analyses

Old Norse róðr "rowing" is a masculine noun, which Kroonen and EWA derive from a separate u-stem *rōþru-,^[4][7] while Seebold, Bammesberger and Mottausch trace the Norse forms to *rōþra- as well, as EWA reports.^[7][6] De Vries holds that the sense "rudder" in the Scandinavian languages was borrowed from Middle Low German.^[11]

Meanings

1. oar^[1][2]
2. rudder^[2][4]

Old Frisian used the word for "ship's rudder, helm",^[9] and Old High German for "oar, rudder".^[12]

Reflexes

• Old English: rōþor (“oar”)^[13]
• Old Frisian: rōder (“rudder, helm”)^[9]
• Old High German: ruodar (“oar, rudder”)^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 328
2. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *rōþr
3. ^ a b Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 325
4. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 416
5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 307
6. ^ a b Bammesberger, Alfred (1990), Die Morphologie des urgermanischen Nomens, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 85
7. ^ a b c d e f g Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. ruodar
8. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 327–328
9. ^ a b c Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. rōder
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. rōther
11. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 450
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ruodar
13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. rōþor